The Forgotten Realms: Night of Eternal Darkness
by Aura24
Summary: Based on The Eternal Night and Sequel to the Forgotten Realms. The dragons of Artisans begin to enjoy a brighter future in their new home, until the day when the Night of Eternal Darkness approaches. Story on Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1: The Vision

**Author's Note:** Here's the sequel to my first Spyro story, The Forgotten Realms, if you have read the first, then I suggest you read it before you read this story. Anyway, this story is almost based on the Eternal Night game, however, it will be different. If you hadn't played the game, this story will contain spoilers.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Spyro and other characters from the Spyro the Dragon and the Legend of Spyro series. Also, this chapter's fight scene is **based** off the official trailer of the The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night game from Sierra.

* * *

000000

A week ago after the dragons won the War of Survival, the dragons were living in perfect harmony along with the elders of the temple. Spyro, the purple dragon of legend, used up his fire powers during the war and is now feeling weak after draining it for his friends' existence.

The day after the War of Survival, three dragons suddenly appeared in Artisans and approached the temple by flight. To Cosmos, Ignitus, and everyone's relief and suprise, the dragons revealed to be Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador; other survivors of the Dragon Temple. The young dragons started asking them questions about where they were and how they escaped. The three Elders responded that they have been in hiding after that dreadful day and awaited their chance to try and find any survivors. The young dragons began to take classes with the four Elders, including Cosmos, practicing their fighting skills, and taking flying lessons. It was like being in the Dragon Temple again for them all.

A few weeks later, two of the dragons, Rikki and Ruby, discovered a little creature near the temple; a yellow dragonfly. The dragonfly called himself Sparx and he says that he's been traveling to find a new place to find. Though the other dragons were a bit uneasy about the presence of a dragonfly, including Flame, but when they heard that Sparx was alone and couldn't find his family, Spyro felt sorry for him.

It was then the purple dragon did the unthinkable: adopting Sparx as his brother.

At first, the other dragons were shocked and confused about Spyro adopting Sparx as his brother, but soon, they accepted it.

Sparx felt happy and somewhat tearful when he heard this, saying that he always wanted a brother and a little sister. Spyro didn't know whether he was crying or...just happy.

Soon, the purple dragon and the yellow dragonfly began to form a bond as if they were really brothers. Ami was including the sibling trio, also forming a quick bond with Sparx as another older brother.

However, it started to become a little complicated when Sparx saw Cynder and somehow recognized her as the monster she was before while under the Dark Master's control. Spyro reassured him that she was good, but Sparx didn't trust Cynder much and even talked about her behind her back to Spyro.

Over the weeks, everything was quite ordinary. There were a few sightings of carnivores since the dragons won the war and it seemed like a bright future for the dragons until one fateful day...

00000000

**The Forgotten Realms: Night of Eternal Darkness**

**Chapter 1: The Vision**

"You see, young dragons, rain plays a role in the hydrologic cycle in which moisture from the oceans evaporates, condenses into drops, falls from the sky, and eventually returns to the ocean with rivers and streams to repeat the cycle again. The water vapor from plant respiration also contributes to the moisture in the atmosphere..." Volteer spoke, as he continued his lesson to an audience of young dragons sitting down in front of him. Some of the dragons were struggling to stay awake for the lesson period, however, they slowly drooped into a nap while listening to Volteer's speedy lesson. Flame, Ember and Grayson were amongst the mist of dragon, trying to stay awake to avoid getting attention.

Flame's eyes started to droop as he continued to listen to Volteer's lesson. He yawned softly, then looked over to Ember and Grayson and moaned softly, "Does he ever stop talking? I can hardly understand a word he says."

"You know how Volteer gets." Ember giggled quietly, before she looked around for someone, then turned back to Flame and Grayson, "You guys seen Spyro, Ami, Sparx, and Cynder?"

Grayson replied softly, rolling his eyes, "I'm sure they're somewhere in the temple, away from this annoying chattering."

000000

"Come on, here it is!" Cynder announced, as she walked into an empty training room on the other side of the Artisan Temple which contained another statue of a proud dragon in the very center. She was followed closely by Spyro, Sparx, and Ami.

Sparx, moaned sarcastically and worriedly, "Wonderful! We get to spend the entire inside the creepy dragon room of doom." He sighed, flying high above the three dragons "Ugh, I need new friends..." The yellow dragonfly turned only to come face-to-face with the glowing eyes of the dragon statue as he yelled out in terror and flew away.

Spyro was gently nudging Ami towards the dragon statue, knowing how uneasy his little sister now about training to breathe fire in a room they never found before.

Ami muttered, "I don't know, you guys, maybe we should go back to the public training room."

The dragon statue spinned around and descended into the floor below before the floor closed it up above for the training, leaving a wide, circular room.

Cynder reassured, "Relax, Ami, it'll be fun. Besides you said you wanted to learn to breathe flame without any looking." A swirl of light appeared in the center of the room and a humanoid dummy appeared, "All you have to do is stand outside the circle and whatever you think of appears inside the circle." Cynder turned to Ami, "Try it."

Ami shook her head, still uncertain, "Uh uh."

Spyro urged, "Come on, Ami, all you have to do is take a deep breath and exhale." He took a deep breath and blew out smoke, but suddenly a stream of fire gushed out from his mouth. The purple dragon smiled, but still felt weak from his power.

Ami responded, "Okay, here it goes." The little Artisan leapt at the humanoid constructed dummy and paced in front of it for a moment, then tried to breathe out fire a few times, but instead puffs of smoke came out from her mouth.

Cynder reassured, "It's okay, keep trying."

Ami tried again, but she breathed out a long stream of smoke at the dummy and leaned back, panting to catch her breath.

"Nothing." Sparx said, buzzing beside Ami, smirking, "Heh, you called that a flame? I've seen better."

Spyro urged, "You can do it, Ami."

Giving a determination look, Ami breathed out puffs of smoke a few more times before a sudden blast of fire finally erupted from her mouth and scorched the humanoid dummy to nothingness. The little Artisan smiled happily as Sparx cheered a little beside her, "Wow! I did it!"

"See? All you needed was practice." Cynder replied, walking up to Ami.

Ami smirked, walking by Cynder to the other side of the training room, "Give me something a little more challenging."

"Yeah, Cynder, what are you thinking?" Sparx asked, floating beside the black dragoness, "Give the little artist some challenge."

Cynder laughed playfully, "Alright, try this one." She closed her eyes, but before the black dragoness could think of what she was going to use for the training, the swirling light activated on its own as a low, dark chuckle made itself known.

The light created a huge, bipedial figure, and to Cynder'a horror, a massive ape-like creature appeared in front of her, wielding two large swords and wearing heavy armor and a horned helmet. An emerald-stone glowed from the ape's head that served as its right eye.

Ami became terrified by the seemingly practice creature and whimpered, stepping back, "Uh, Cynder??"

"That's..." Cynder breathed in horror.

The armored ape growled evilly, raising his right sword over his head poising directly at Cynder, "_Cynder..._"

Seeing the incoming danger, Cynder quickly scurried away, but Spyro leapt in front the massive ape to prevent him for harming the black dragoness and stood beside Ami. The massive, armored ape turned his attention to Spyro and his little sister, raised his sword. The purple dragon quickly grabbed Ami by the scuff of her neck with his mouth as he leapt out of the way before the sword's blade pierced the ground where they last stood.

The ape pulled his sword out of the floor and turned to Cynder, taking one step towards her. The black dragoness trembled with fear as she stepped away from the massive ape.

"Cynder, end it the training!" Spyro shouted, jumping in front of Cynder and stood between her and the ape, "Make him go away!"

"I...I can't!" Cynder stuttered in fear.

Spyro tried blowing out fire at the massive ape, but a puff of smoke came out instead as his fire powers died down again. The purple dragon widened his eyes. "Oh no, not again!" He moaned, right before the ape knocked him aside with the blade of his sword, sending Spyro sprawling across the wall and into the wall, momentarily knocking him senseless.

"_Cynder..._" The massive ape growled again, he turned his attention back to Cynder as the black dragoness began to run away.

Sparx shouted desperately, "Spyro, do something!"

Spyro quickly snapped back to normal and rose up from his dazed state, seeing Cynder desperately trying to avoid the swiping blade of the ape's swords. However, as she ran, one of the ape's swords narrowly pierced the floor behind her, causing Cynder to stumble forward and painfully sprawl against the floor.

The purple dragon stood back to his paws and looked at the armored ape who was determined to harm Cynder, and at that moment, an unknown feeling flowed through him.

Cynder shook her head and looked over to Spyro, but in petrified horror, she looked up to the massive ape as he raised his sword high over his head, ready to kill the black dragoness. Before he could fulfill his deed, the massive ape looked back to see Spyro leap into the air, a faint light coated him as a mysterious power flowed through him.

The purple dragon suddenly lunged at the massive ape before he started lashing powerfully at the seemingly practice monster with his tail and horns. With a mighty thrust of Spyro horns against the monster's head, the massive ape vanished upon defeat leaving Spyro to fall back down to the floor, exhausted.

"Spyro..." Cynder said, walking over to the purple dragon, as Spyro stood back up and looked to the black dragoness, "H-How did you do that?"

Spyro arched one eyebrow to Cynder, "I've always known how to do it. Are you all right?"

"Yes, thanks to you." Cynder smiled, then turned away to look to Ami only to see the little Artisan trembling and shuddering on the other side of the training dojo after moving from a distance.

Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx quickly went over to Ami to see if she was all right. However, the little Artisan was shuddering violently, her eyes glazed over and her legs twitched. After a few seconds later, Ami shook her and held her head with her left paw, still trembling.

"Whoa, that was creepy." Sparx shuddered, buzzing beside Ami.

Spyro asked concerned, "Ami, was it a vision?"

"I don't know what it was." Ami replied, trembling a bit, "But...it had something to do with that huge ape. It's so evil..." She shuddered, almost terrified.

Cynder walked over to Ami and nuzzled her dearly, trying her best to calm her down.

Spyro looked away slightly and sighed, "I guess there's going to be more trouble coming..."

Wait, more trouble??" Sparx asked, flying in front of Spyro, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a long story, Sparx." Spyro replied, "Ami's...sorta gifted."

The yellow dragonfly repeated, "Gifted? Oh! You mean..._seeing the futuuurre_." He waved his arms in a ghostly like fashion.

"Yeah, kinda like that." Spyro responded, "We have to tell Ignitus about this later. Whatever Ami's vision was, it seemed like a really bad one..." He looked over to Cynder still comforting Ami; the little Artisan was still trembling, her paws quivering and her wings nearly wrapped around her body.


	2. Chapter 2: Ami's Departure

**Chapter 2: Ami's Departure**

At midnight, in the Artisan Temple, the young dragons were all gathered in the main hall, chattering and talking to their friends. Ignitus, Cosmos, Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer stood on the other side of the room, watching over the young dragon and conversing with each other. Spyro's friends: Flame, Cynder, Halvor, Rikki, Ember, Ruby, Bruce, Moira, Grayson, and Coltrane also joined the other dragons to talk.

Spyro himself just stood at the other side of the room, looking out of the window for signs of any suspicious characters outside. He looked over to Ami, who was sitting close by him. "Any visions yet, Ami?" The purple dragon asked, looking to his little sister.

Ami shook her head, "No, Spyro. I haven't had any weird feeling since this morning."

"Not likely, liar." Grayson muttered under his breath, who was sitting close by, but unfortunately, Bruce and Halvor heard him.

Coltrane growled, "What was that, Grayson?"

"Why don't you say it a little louder?" Halvor asked sternly.

Grayson turned to Coltrane and Halvor with a cold glare and replied, "By ancestors, I think I will! I can't believe you all keep depending on Ami for her stupid visions when they never arrive on time to prevent us from meeting with danger! No matter what, every enemy and attack we've ever faced could have been avoided if Ami had her visions sooner! But no! Like idiots, we go through thick and thin and never get any peace and quiet! If it wasn't for our instinct of survial, we'd all be devoured by predators or killed by the Apes and we wouldn't even be able to live out our new lives here!"

"And what exactly are you saying, Grayson?" Coltrane snarled.

Grayson replied, "I'm saying that attacks and destruction that have happened to us have been Ami's fault to begin with!"

The other dragons, including the Guardians and Elders, stopped their conversations and turned their attention to Grayson, Spyro and the others.

"But it's not my fault, Grayson!" Ami cried defensively, "I don't know when or why I can see things, but I have no control over the visions!"

Grayson growled, "Yes, and it's all because of the fact that you can't see things before they happen like when we were able to escape the destruction at the Dragon Temple! I wouldn't be surprised if the real reason you have those visions is because you're the one who's been causing all the trouble we've been having!"

Ami took a step back, her mind and soul now troubled and hurt from the words.

Seeing the look of hurt look on Ami's face, Flame got in front of Grayson and growled, "Stop it, Grayson or I'll rip you apart!"

Moira, a bit uneasy, silently sided with Grayson and responded softly, "Flame, please, don't be upset, but Grayson does has a point. The deaths of our friends and family were caused by the Apes, but Ami saw the attack before it happened and she might the one who caused the destruction. If she does have her visions and predicts, then another attack will happen."

"Moira!" Ember gasped, shocked that the female Magic Crafter felt the same way.

Flame complained, "Not you too!"

"Flame, come now!" Bruce tried to add in convincingly, walking up to the red dragon, "You know they're right!"

Flame nearly lost his restraint, his paws quivering.

Ami felt at loss when she noticed more and more dragons around her began to occur with Grayson's statement, chattering and yelling with worry and anger about her visions and what events happened after the little Artisans predicted them. The Ice Guardian, Cyril, stood up to his paws and tried to break the argument to keep the peace, "Everyone, we all had a hard time, but now it is not the time when we argue nonsense that is breaking us apart! Let us cease this argument at once!!"

"Please, Grayson!" Ruby pleaded, tugging on the Peace Keeper's tail, "Please, let's just rest now!"

However, Grayson wouldn't drop it as he angrily said to Ami, "Maybe you don't really want us to be safe from the Dark Master, Ami! Maybe you've kept your visions and don't want to warn us! Ancestors above, it's as if you _want_ us to be killed!!"

Everyone, including Moira and Bruce, was staggered from the declaration.

Ami stood there, looking at Grayson with a dazed, shaken look in her purple eyes, glazed with hurt and humilation as her body quivered. Without a word, she turned around and ran faster than she ever could as she disappeared and into one of the hallways.

"Ami, wait! Come back!" Ruby pleaded, but the blue Artisan has already gone into the hallway.

An awkward silence loomed over the group of young dragons, they looked to the Elders and Guardians and noticed they were also shocked and disappointemnt.

Ignitus stepped out from the crowd and spoke sternly, "Young dragons...go to your rooms."

Obediently, the young dragons slowly began making their way to their rooms into the hallways of the temple in silence, some were muttering under their breaths, leaving Spyro and the Dragon Elders and Guardians.

As Grayson was about to head to the hallway along with the others, Terrador called out to him, "Grayson."

The young Peace Keeper stopped in his tracks and turned to Terrador, seeing the Earth Guardian approaching him with a glare. Terrador said with a stern voice, "You and I are going to have a chat about your sudden argument and the pain you have just caused tonight. Come with me." The battle-scarred dragon turned and began walking to the other side of the temple, as Grayson gulped nervously as he followed his Elder.

As the other dragons continued to leave, Cynder sadly looked over to Spyro to see the purple dragon looking to the hallway where Ami went to, worried. The black dragoness then slowly and remorsefully started walking into a hallway towards her room, leaving Spyro with the other Dragon Elders.

Ignitus walked over to Spyro and stood beside him. He reassured in a soft voice, "Do not worry, young dragon, I will talk to Ami, and hopefully she will recover from this event. If it was not for her, we would not be here today nor will we able to see our future. Her gift is something our ancestors has bestowed upon her..."

Spyro nodded silently in understanding.

Seeing that the purple dragon understood, Ignitus turned away from him and began making his way to Ami's room until he disappeared behind the corner.

Spyro still felt upset about what just happened. His sister was the one who saw the incoming threat and saved some of his friends from certain death, her visions had saved them all before. As the purple dragon stood silently, Spyro slightly heard buzzing wings as Sparx flew into the room and looked around.

"Hey, Spyro, I heard some shouting and I..." Sparx said, then stopped himself when he saw Spyro looked at him sadly, then the purple dragon started walking away into the other side of the Artisan Temple, leaving Sparx confused.

The yellow dragonfly asked, following his brother, "What? Did I miss something?"

_

* * *

_000000

_In a void of confusing and twisted convexity, the sprinting form of Spyro scurried and leapt across the floating platforms in front of him. He was running from something, something he never wished to have encountered in his young age. Soaring through the void, was a large, ghastly dragon while scurrying the dark open void of nothingness. Spyro started to pant as he ran, but as he looked back, the purple dragon saw the large dragon drawing closer and closer to him now matter how fast he ran. Suddenly, the purple dragon lost his footing and began to tumble down into the void._

_Out of nowhere, the he darkness around him writhed and whipped into life before it started to ensnare him in a tight bind. Spyro started to struggle, but not before the darkness lashed a tentacle around his neck and body, coiling around him like a snake. As the purple dragon struggled, he was being dragged into the darkness of convexity, fighting and squirming desperately to escape as the large, ghastly dragon flew over to him and transformed into a burst of darkness._

_Spyro was instantly covered in pitch black, the darkness completely wrapping around his legs and wings as he was loosing air and couldn't breathe. As the purple dragon drifted further into the cold and constricting darkness, a cold and growling voice called out to him softly, drifting around him like the wind, **S-S-pyro...S-S-Spyro...**_

"Spyro!"

Spyro snapped his eyes open from his secret nightmare with a start, he briefly looked around before he found himself outside of the Artisan Temple, lying down in the long, stone balcony. He then stared up to the sky which wonderously displayed the Celestial Moons about to entwine with each other in the starry night.

A familiar voice spoke out from behind the purple dragon, "Spyro, are you awake?"

Spyro perked up slightly and turned around to see Cynder standing beside him. The purple dragon turned his head to see Cynder standing beside him, looking worried and concerned about something.

Spyro groggily stood up to his paws and looked at her, groggily asking, "Cynder? What is it?"

"It's Ami." Cynder replied quietly, "I saw her sneaking out of the temple on my way to the fountain. I think she's leaving after what happened earlier with Grayson."

"What?!" Spyro gasped softly, he jumped out of his bed and stood in front of Cynder, "Come on, we have to find her. It's dangerous for her to wandering around outside the temple." The purple dragon walked towards the door of the balcony.

"Right behind you." Cynder responded, as she followed Spyro into the temple.

Suddenly, a yellow light with wings flew in front of Spyro as he stepped into the temple, startling the purple dragon as he took a step back. He and Cynder looked at the yellow light and recognized it.

Spyro asked, "Sparx?"

"Spyro." Sparx gasped, then sighed with relief, "Whew! You scared me there. Hey, why are you guys up?"

Spyro replied, "We could ask you the same question. We're going to find Ami, she left the temple."

"Ami left the temple?" Sparx repeated, "That's unlike her, wandering around outside to be picked off by...'evil monsters.'"

Spyro responded, "I know, it's dangerous. If you want to come along, then let's go." He resumed running through the hallway along with Cynder.

Sparx appeared in front of Spyro and said, "It's dangerous for any of us to be outside at night. Besides, Ignitus said you have to wait til your powers return...cause you're weak."

"No time for that now." Spyro retorted, trying to ignore the fact that he doesn't have any elemental powers, "Come on." He then scurried past Sparx and hurrried into the Artisan Temple trailed along with Cynder, leaving the yellow dragonfly behind.

Sparx muttered between a fake cough, "You'd be helpless without me...I'm going with you." The yellow dragonfly quickly followed the two dragons through the temple.

The two dragons, now joined by Sparx, continued their way through the Artisan Temple. However, their progress was stopped when they came into another room, where the Guardians, Ignitus, Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador were seen sleeping together. Terrador snored gently in his sleep and was close to Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx as they stood near the other side of the room.

Spyro slowly turned his head towards Sparx and Cynder, whispering to them, "Quiet. We mustn't wake them."

Cynder nodded silently in understanding.

"What?" Sparx shouted through the loud snoring of the Guardians, "I can't hear you over all this snoring!"

Fortunately, the Guardians didn't hear Sparx's shout, and without a moment to lose, Spyro and Cynder tiptoed their way across the room to the foyer at the other side, being careful not to distract or wake the Guardians anyone in the process. As the dragons snuck past Cyril, they heard him mumbling some words in his sleep. Soon they started walking quietly by Volteer, who was muttered something logical in his sleep along with the other Guardians.

Finally, Spyro reached the other side; he turned around, waiting for Cynder and Sparx to catch up, and then they left the temple together. Outside, the Celestial Moons were shining down beams of light, providing the three residents a clear view of the hills of Artisans. Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx then made their way down the hill where the Artisan Temple stood upon until they reached the bottom and began making their way across the fields. As they bounding through the dark hills without attracting unwanted attention, Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx travelled through the open as they cautiously ventured through across the plains, ignoring the haunting crys and callings of the animals around them. The two dragons and the dragonfly soon took cover underneath a few trees from anything that might spot them.

Trying to be useful, Sparx flew up and hovered high above the top of the trees, covering the top of his eyes from the moonlight with his hand to get a better view of his surroundings to spot anything. After a few moments, the yellow dragonly finally spotted something.

"I spy a little blue squirt with purple wings and white horns." Sparx announced, pointing to his left before flying down back to Spyro.

Spyro nodded, and quickly, he and Cynder ran to the left side of the hills as quickly as possible. He then finally spotted Ami walking in the open towards the other side of Artisans. The purple dragon and quickly approached the little Artisan with Cynder and Sparx close behind.

Spyro asked, walking up to his little sister, "Ami, what are you doing out here? It's dangerous at this time at night."

Ami jumped slightly and turned her head around, she relaxed when she noticed she saw Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder. She turned to them and muttered remorsefully, "Spyro, Cynder, Sparx...you shouldn't have followed me."

"With many monsters lurking around waiting to take a bite outta you?" Sparx retorted, hovering beside Spyro, "I don't think so."

Ami muttered sadly, "Please, you guys, leave me alone..."

"Why are you out here, Ami?" Spyro asked, worried and concerned.

Ami replied sadly with remorse, "I'm leaving, Spyro, you'd be better off without me. What if I'm not seeing the future? What if my visions make things happen??"

Spyro responded, "Don't be silly, let's head back."

Ami continued sadly, "What if I caused the Dragon Temple's destruction?? And you nearly died because of me? And Flame, caught in the net of illusion??"

"None of that was your fault, Ami..." Cynder reassured.

"And how would you know?!" Ami snapped piteously, "I never asked for these visions and it asks so much from me, consuming me! Why can't I just be a...a normal dragon?!" The little Artisan slowly calmed down and sighed, almost in tears, "Grayson was right. Everyday that goes by, I'm reminded of why I have these visions. Spyro, Cynder, Sparx...your home is here. Your future is here. But mine is somewhere out there, outside of this realm, for me to find..."

Spyro reasoned, "Ami...I don't want you to go. You're my little sister and the only family I have."

"Goodbye, Spyro..." Ami sadly replied, before she swiftly turned around and scurried off into the dark hills of the night, bounding around the plains until she disappeared.

Spyro shook his head in disbelief and was about to take off after Ami, but Cynder stepped forward.

The black dragoness reassured gently, "Don't worry, Spyro, I'll go after her and bring her back." She then took off in the direction where Ami went, following the little Artisan to bring her back in one piece.

"Be careful." Spyro called out softly, witnessing Cynder disappearing behind one of the hills.

Sparx said, "Don't worry, I'm sure that evil-psycho-she dragon can bring Ami back. In the meantime, let's go back and gets some shut eye. Even though I haven't been sleeping much for weeks. Hey, did my eye just twitched?" He then turned his attention to Spyro, who had both of his eyes half open, struggling to stay awake, "Spyro? Buddy, you okay?"

Spyro didn't reply, as he closed his eyes and collasped on the ground as if he had fainted.

Sparx moaned, "Hey, I wanna sleep too, but I didn't mean out here! Let's at least get inside, it's dark out, man, and I don't like it." He then zoomed his way towards the purple dragon to try and wake him up, "Hello? Anyone home? Hello!"

Spyro didn't answer, as his mind was lured deep into his subconsciousness...

0000000

_Spyro regained his senses and lifted his head from a stone surface, he looked dazed for a moment before he shook his head and climbed up to his paws. The purple dragon then looked around and he didn't find himself in the hills of Artisans. Instead, he found himself in a strange area with floating rocks and stars around his field of view. He went to the end of the platform he stood on and looked about at the abyss around him._

_Spyro asked, hoping for an answer, "Hello? Anyone?"_

_An aged voice replied, "Do not be frightened, young dragon. You are not alone."_

_Spyro questioned, sitting down as he looked about, "Who are you? Where am I?"_

_"I have called you here so that you might be warned." The voice answered grimly, "The Celestial Moons are counting down and time is running out."_

_Spyro took several steps back towards the center of the platform with uncertainty, now knowing who the voice is. A few moments after he stopped, the purple dragon started to hear various whispers around the empty space, steadily increasing in volume until it became an unbearable chorus of noise._

_Spyro closed his eyes and shouted, "**Make it stop!**"_

_As if by command, a pulse of energy shot forth and time instantly froze all around him, causing the rocks nearby to freeze in mid-air._

_Spyro was shocked and confused at the same time by this influence. He looked in front of him noticed the spinning rocks were slowed down. The purple dragon then decided to used some of the rocks to cross over to another platform with a few flaps of his wings, and as he did, time unfroze by itself._

_Spyro asked, looking around, "How did that happen?"_

_The voice answered, "The purple dragon can wield many abilities that others cannot, including time itself. Learn to master this ability, and you would be able to see things almost before they happen. But... use this gift sparingly, only when circumstances demand. Manipulation of time is not to be done without the utmost care."_

_Spyro nodded with understanding before he walked to the edge of the platform he was. By command, he slowed down time and jumped onto a spinning platform before leaping onto another. The purple dragon repeated this process until he eventually saw__ a platform with a red light casting out of it. _

_Spyro jumped off the edge pf the platform he was on and glided towards it, landing in front of a pedestal where the light was glowing from. The purple dragon approached it as he briefly looked around, then leant his head towards the glow of the pedestal._

_The voice spoke out from the light, "You seemed to have abandoned your true calling. It is your destiny to harness the powers of the elements. But, you possess not."_

_"I haven't been able to use my fire abilities for some time now." Spyro said, "And I don't know about the other elements."_

_The voice responded, "Yes. Right now your powers lay dormant within you. Let's see if we might not awaken them."_

_Spyro lifted his head away and then stepped into the light, allowing it to channel through his body. _

_"Clear your mind, Spyro, and feel the fire that flows through your veins." The voice instructed slowly, "Let its heat to consume you, and exhale with it. Now, rise up and release the firestorm within you!"_

_Spyro closed his eyes and slowly lifted himself a few feet off the pedestal, as fire appeared out of thin air and was drawn towards him, swarming around him in a vicious flamestorm. He then unleashed a fire elemental fury and it resulted with his body being engulfed by flames, but he didn't seem to be hurt._

_"Excellent, Spyro! You're a natural." The voice remarked, "But now that a raging fire churns inside you, show me you have command of it."_

_Spyro looked ahead and noticed a wall of fire distinguishing to reveal a passage of floating platforms. The purple dragon wandered forth and leapt across the platforms to another large platform containing stoned statues of armored Trolls around the edges. _

_Suddenly, the trolls jumped to life and instantly charged towards Spyro. The purple dragon stood firm and took a deep breath, easily blowing out a stream of fire at the Stone Troll as it started to torch the living creature until it was singed into white particles. Spyro blasted his flames against the other trolls until they too were singed into nothingess._

_Knowing that his flaming test was completed, a pair of floating platforms appeared at the other side of the huge platform as if waiting for Spyro to go to another section of the void. T__he purple dragon then started making his way towards them and leapt across the platforms above the neverending darkness of the abyss below him._

_More Stone Trolls laid on the next platform, jumping to ife to attack Spyro and help with his training. __Spyro suddenly charged, flames appears on his horns as he became a blurry, fire comet, striking past the Stone Trolls as uttered a dying moan and vanished into nothingess. __The purple dragon stopped in his tracks, still feeling the heat emiting from his horns. Upon learing a new fire attack, Spyro smirked and used his new Comet Dash technique onto the other Stone Trolls until they were all vanquished._

_As if knowing that his next tes was complete, another couple of platforms appeared over the dark abyss, giving Spyro access to yet another platform. The purple dragon then made his way to his next training session._

_After several tests concerning combat with the element of fire and finally unleashing his fire fury again, Spyro found himself in front of a temple at the end of the passage of platforms. Blue kelp were planted on the sides, waving around in the air in the hallway leading to the interior, which was seen to be a large room with a blue projecting light in the middle from a circular pedestal. _

_Spyro headed directly for that light, glided shortly to it before looking into the light like he did with the fire platform. __The aged voice spoke, _"_You have done well...and now, it is time for you to return. But be careful Spyro, the enemy approaches."_

_Spyro called, "Wait! You still haven't told me who you are!"_

_"You will know me as the Chronicler." The voice replied calmly, "Find me..."_

_An image of a great tree in the mist of huge a forest appeared through the viewing pedestal, and then, the view faded to white as Spyro was beginning to regain consciousness..._

0000000

"Hello? Hello, hello, hello? Anyone home? Hello? Hello?"

Spyro slowly re-awakened from his sleep upon hearing Sparx's repeating voice. He lifted his head up and looked a little dazed before he shook his head and stood back on his feet.

The purple dragon looked around and noticed he was back in Artisans, outside where he last saw Cynder going after Ami. He turned back to Sparx and said, "Something is happening, Sparx. I can't explain it."

"No kidding." Sparx scoffed, "While you were catatonic, this whole place has been hooting and howling like those monsters are lurking around. Listen."

Spyro looked around and heard many faint sounds in the night, but one of the sounds was different, almost like an explosion from a distance. He whispered softly, "What was that?"

Suddenly, a bomb landed its way a few feet in front of Spyro and Sparx, causing them both to stumble back in recoil. Spyro rolled backwards across the grass as Sparx smacked chest first into one of the trees before he fell to the ground on his back.

Spyro quickly stood back to his paws, surprised, and asked, "What's happening?" He looked up, and above the trees, and in the night sky, he saw a flock of Dreadwings flying their way towards the Artisan Temple. Suddenly, more bombs were dropped, causing the hill-like passage behind Spyro to be heavily sealed up by debris of trees and dirt.

Spyro gasped with horror, "The Temple is under attack! The others are still sleeping; we need to get back!"

"Are you crazy?" Sparx yelped with shock, "You want to run _towards _the danger?"

Spyro replied, "We're going to have to find another way back. Come on!" He then took off scurrying hurriedly through the hillls to get back to the Artisan Temple.

Sparx moaned, following Spyro through the hills where they last came through, "Ugh... I liked you better when you were sleepin'."


	3. Chapter 3: The Temple Raid

**Disclaimer: **In this chapter, the character Firestar belongs to Master Sarge300 and he appears as one of the many survivors of the Dragon Temple.

* * *

0000000

**Chapter 3: The Temple Raid**

In the open hills of Artisans, Spyro and Sparx quickly made their way through the stone passages of the meadows as fast as they could. The purple dragon looked up to the air and saw more flocks of Dreadwings making their way over to the destination where they need to attack. Soon, Spyro and Sparx climbed up the highest hill they can find and went up to the top. From there, Spyro widened his eyes in horror when he saw what laid before him and Sparx.

out of the nowhere, the meadows of Artisans near the Artisans emple were now completely overruned with absolute chaos. As clouds of fresh black smoke completely covered out the faint traces of the Celestial Moons, within several moments, enemies, loyal, ravaging soldiers of the Dark Master, turned up in hordes, with roars and shrieks of urging anticipation. The Dreadwings dropped several bombs from the skies, releasing more Ape soldiers to overcome the battle. The dragons of the temple were startled at the sudden attack, but immediately did their best to drive them off and hold them back, but it was soon learned that it was overwhelming. To Spyro and Sparx's shock, they could see hordes and masses of Apes down below, making their way up to the Artisan Temple to start their attack.

Coltrane, Bruce, Halvor, Grayson, and the rest of the young dragons, were now doing their best to drive off the forces of the Dark Master. Amongst the group of young dragons, Ember and Moira were struggling to tackle against a group of Apes that made their way close to the nursery where the little dragons were held.

Ember quickly knocked a daring Ape soldier with a swift whip of her tail when it charged at her, then seared it away with a blast of fire. The pink dragon then sunk slightly to the ground, exhausted from brawling with a lot of enemies that came close. Moira went over to Ember's aid quickly and urged her back to her feet while growling at the Apes that were advancing towards them. Slowly, Ember stood back to her feet, ignoring her fatigue and wounds as she nodded knowingly to Moira. The two dragoness then resumed brawling and fighting against the horde of Apes to protect the nursery...

A piercing cry broke through the madness and chaos of the Artisan Temple, as Flarea dove from the sky and painfully struck several Apes away with her blazing wings as she flew by. The phoenix flew over the heads of her enemies before a short while. With a bloodcurtling screech, Flarea doved towards the Apes again, this time releasing a barrage of fireballs down upon them as she flew by. However, one Ape soldier, with a lucky strike, managed to deliver a sharp, brutal cuff onto Flarea's body as the fire bird dived by. With a screech of pain, the phoenix crashed onto the grass, her wing now broken and useless as the Apes chattered and roared in slight victory...

Near the other side of the Artisan Temple, Flame and another young dragon, Firestar, were surrounded on both sides by multitudes of Apes, who are pushing them, cornering them, towards the edge of the balcony. The two dragons stood back-to-back with their wings spread open and their nostrils steaming out smokes of fire.

"You think you can handle this many?" Flame asked, glancing back at Firestar for a brief moment before looking back to the Apes.

Firestar replied smugly, "Well...Might be worse if one more shows up."

"Then that'll have to be the one _I_ take care of." Flame smirked.

Firestar chuckled, "What, you're fighting too?" With a mighty roar, Flame and Firestar both leapt away from each other and begin attacking the Apes as they move in with every ounce of their power...

A frightened Rikki was running away from an Ape soldier until she found herself cornered at the edge of the balcony she was on. She turned around and saw the Ape advancing towards the little Magic Crafter, growling aggressively. It lunged for Rikki, but the little Magi Crafter leapt over him and bounced off his head to the other side of the balcony away from the edge. The Ape soldier turned around only to see Ruby swiftly charging at him and headbutting him right off the edge of the balcony, sending the Ape soldier painfully tumbling down the hill below.

Rikki and Ruby giggled triumphantly, however, their victory was short-lived when they turned around and shrieked with terror, quickly scurrying away into the temple as a group of Apes charged after them...

The Magic Crafter elder and leader, Cosmos, yelled and bellowed in distress as hordes of Apes forcefully pummeled him into the ground as a large, massive ape prepared for the final blow, raising his crystal spear high above his head. Cosmos, too weak and battered to even move, just laid there, helpless. Suddenly, there was a heavy thud as something heavy and large walloped into the large Ape, momentarily saving Cosmos from the finishing move. The Maic Crafter leader weakly got on his own four feet as he looked at the pink Peace Keeper who was assaulting the massive Ape to the ground with much difficulty for the enemy to try and knock him off.

Cosmos then simply emerged from the pile of small Ape soldiers and resumed his attack...

Spyro and Sparx looked upon the chaos before them, seeing all of their friends battling the Dark Forces while in their abscence. The purple dragon gasped, "Everyone...hang in there!" With a dash, Spyro sped down the hill as as fast as he could, scurrying through the meadows to help out his friends while making his way up the hill which contained the Artisan Temple.

As soon as they reached the top, Spyro and Sparx found themselves at an entrance to one part of the Temple. Several bombs dropped to the ground in front of them, causing Spyro and Sparx to shield their eyes from the blast as a small group of Ape mercenaries were standing nearby. The enemies marched to the tip of the hill they were on and stopped, the leader peered forward and saw Spyro ahead.

The Ape leader gasped, "The purple dragon!"

"Yohoo, ugly primate!" Sparx shouted, taunting, "Ooh ooh ooh! Now that we've exchanged solutations, let's fight."

The ape leader then ordered the two of his ape soldiers to charge with a gesture of his sword, causing one of the nearby soldiers to leap down from the ledge. The other didn't budge, preferring to stay on the platform, but the leader shoved his down with his shield.

Sparx then responded, flying away to a distance, "Or you two can fight and I'll watch. In a safe undisturbed distance."

As the two Apes soldiers charged, Spyro was already prepared to fight as his wings were spread and his eyes narrowed. The purple dragon instantly charged forward and rammed into one of the apes, rendering it to stagger slightly as Spyro spewed out searing flames at the enemy, making it yap and yell in agony before it fell to the ground, dead. Spyro turned his attention to the other Ape soldier and started assualting it with his melee moves, kicking and whipping in a blinding combination before the enemy also collasped to the ground before it bursted into gems.

Seeing that his underlings were defeated, the Ape leader jumped down from the ledge and started throwing dynamite at Spyro from a safe distance. Spyro narrowed his eyes and simply charged towards the ape before his horns were engulfed in flames and he rammed into the Ape leader with his Comet Dash move. The Ape leader was sent flying back against the ledge and slammed into it, uttering a dying moan before falling limp and exploding into gems.

Suddenly, another pair of bombs dropped from the sky by Dreadwings as it blasted a few feet beside Spyro, releasing a couple of domesticated Death Hounds as they leapt from the smoke with a growl of anticipation.

Spyro growled as the Death Hounds advanced towards him, he leapt one of them and head-butted it directly against its forehead, painfully knocking the hound back as it grunted in pain. Suddenly, the purple dragon cried out when another Death Hound swiftly rammed into him, sending the purple dragon painfully rolling away before he finally sat up and shook his head in a daze. The purple dragon quickly jumped back to his feet and tried to keep his attention on the hounds that surrounded him, but found it difficult to keep focus on all of them.

Suddenly, one of the Death Hounds was jerked forward and yelped in pain as a familiar, pink dragon leapt into the battle, appearing beside Spyro

Ember greeted with a cheerful smile, "Spyro, did you miss me? Ember's on the scene!"

Spyro smiled to Ember, then turned his attention back to the Death Hound that surrounded him and Ember. He pewed out a searing blast of flames at one of the Death Hounds, making the hound yelp in pain as it danced around to put out the flames. The purple dragon then swiftly rammed into the hound's chest with its horns, painfully knocking the carnivore off the edge of the hill and sending it tumbling down the hill.

Ember looked over to Spyro as he blew out more of his flames. "Hey, you got your fire back!" She called out with a smile, before she swiftly knocked a Death Hound away with her horns.

Spyro smiled, "Yeah, about time too. And you won't believe me if I told you how I got it back." He lashed at a Death Hound with a whip of his tail before painfully delivering a series of kicks and tail whips onto the hound before knocking it away. He looked over to his left and widened his eyes when he saw another Death Hound lunging at him at lightning speed. Spyro instantly slowed down time around him as his first instinct, and easily avoided the lunging form of the Death Hound before delivering it a series of swipes and tail whips.

Time returned to its normal speed and the Death Hound yelped in pain and shock at how fast Spyro was. This gave Spyro the oppurtunity to finish it off with a swift kick to its forehead, then rammed it with his Comet Dash attack with a burst of fire. The Death Hound reared up on its hind legs and uttered a dying moan before collapsing on the ground on his stomach, exploding into a flurry of gems. Ember quickly rammed into the last Death Hound and blew out flames, setting the hound in flames as it yelped sharply in agonizing pain. The pink dragon then charged at the the dying and blazing Death Hound and rammed directly into its chest, sending the carnivore tumbling down the hill behind it with a dying moan.

Once they vanquished the other Death Hounds around them, Ember turned back to Spyro and called out to him, "All right! Get going!"

Nodding, Spyro and Sparx resumed scurrying towards the temple as fast as they could to help the others fight off the enemy, leaving Ember to go to the other side to assist her friends. They saw a couple of their friends and the other Guardians along the way, struggling to fight off the Apes in the temple only the way. Eventually, Spyro and Sparx found themselves at a rocky platform near the back entrance to the Artisan Temple. There, he saw several ape soldiers fighting Ignitus at the balcony where he slept earlier.

An Ape soldier stood, growling evilly before Ignitus quickly seized the enemy with his mouth and hurled it right off the balcony with a roar. The Fire Guardian then shielded himself as a pair of bombs blasted their way around him, releasing several more Apes to fight him. The Fire Guardian then tossed one enemy over the side, only to be greeted with four Apes more from behind, in which he countered with a stream of fire from his mouth and one of which getting kicked into a pillar with his paw. Six more soldiers then made their arrival, causing him to jump into the air as they landed by bomb transportation.

Ignitus looked up and caught sight of a grotesque-looking Dreadwing soaring through the skies as a purple-armored knight mounted it, giving more orders to others nearby as four Dreadwings appeared, each holding bombs of Apes while Ignitus turned his attention to them. The Fire Guardian quickly leapt straight into the air right before the four bombs soared and blasted the spot where he last stood, releasing Ape soldiers who were eager to fight. The Ape soldiers looked around for Ignitus, expecting to fight a dragon or sort.

Suddenly, a fireball erupted from behind the Apes, suprising them and blasting away two of them as Ignitus landed back on the balcony and roared at them. The Fire Guardian turned around and used his tail to whip the rest of the charging Apes away and off the balcony. One Ape soldier noticed he was the last one remaining on the balcony and panicked, looking for its other allies. As Ignitus turned around to the Ape soldier to finish it off, the frightened enemy quickly ran away by leaping off the balcony and tumbling down the hill below with a moan.

Ignitus stood silently on the balcony and closed his eyes to rest his strength, but as he did, five more bombs blasted behind him on the balcony, releasing several more Ape soldiers to fight him.

Ignitus opened his eyes and then roared in fury as he resumed fighting the Ape soldiers, whipping his tail on a pair of Apes who were too close to him and striking them away. The Fire Guardian glared at the horde of Apes in front of him before using fire to cause them to back away. However, the Apes didn't back off as they growled and yapped evilly and menacingly, and Ignitus became greatly outnumbered. Soon, the apes had him cornered on the path between the Temple and the balcony, and as Ignitus backed away, the apes charged at him altogether.

Spyro cried out, "Ignitus!"

Hearing Spyro's voice, Ignitus looked to his right and saw Spyro high above the ledge. He called, "Get down here, Spyro! Argh!" As he talked, one of the apes lunged towards him, painfully knocking his head back as he yelled out in pain, "I need your help!"

The Fire Guardian then resumed focusing on attacking the Apes around him, knocking one of them away with his horns before more of the Apes started to overpower him, causing the Fire Guardian to shield himself with his wings.

Spyro quickly spread his wings and glided his way down towards the balcony where the Apes are to Ignitus' aid. From nearby, the Assassin riding on his Dreadwing caught sight of Spyro and watched the dragon soar to the balcony as he flew by.

"Get the purple dragon!" The Assassin ordered through his helmet, although his words were slightly muffled.

Spyro landed on the balcony as he glared up at the passing Assassin, then turned around to face Ignitus with the apes still surrounding him. Upon noticing Spyro, the Apes surrounding Ignitus stopped their assault on the Fire Guardian and started making their way towards him instead. Suddenly, from behind, more apes appeared through the bomb transportation and advanced threatenly towards Spyro.

Ignitus was down on th ground for a moment, but he opened his eyes when he felt the Apes have stopped attacking him. He lifted his body from the ground and looked at Spyro, giving him a grin.

Seeing the grin, Spyro smiled for a moment in understanding before he took a few steps back, knowing what Ignitus had planned.

As the Apes advanced towards Spyro, they stopped and gasped when they saw Ignitus standing behind them, ready to fight again and bearing a smirk. The Fire Guardian lowered his head and roared to the air as blazing fire began to draw towards him from out of nowhere in a fiery coulmn, and with a flap of his wings, the flames bursted forth into a fire fury, not only wiping the balcony clean of the Apes, but also knocking over several pillars onto the mouth of the balcony, separating Spyro from Ignitus.

Spyro had shielded himself from the fire fury with his wings, he unfolded them to see the glimpsing form of Ignitus hurrying back into the temple to help the other dragons fight off the Apes.

A loud scream pierced the air as the grotesque Dreadwing flew towards Spyro until it hovered a few feet away from the balcony; mounting the beast was the purple-armored knight. Sparx got terrified by the appearance of the Assassin and whimpered to Spyro, "You're on your own with this one, pal."

"This one?" Spyro echoed, a little confused.

"Prepare to die, purple dragon!" The Assassin declared from atop of his Dreadwing, but his words were still muffled.

Spyro didn't hear the armored knight clearly and turned to Sparx, "What did he say?"

"He said something about preparing to die." Sparx replied, "Either that or he wants you to repair a pie. Yeah...no...yeah."

Suddenly, the Assassin's Dreadwing hurled a dark fireball at Spyro before spewing out another. The purple dragon quickly jumped to the right before he returned fire by shooting homing fireballs at the winged monster, while hopping on his hind legs, his wings flapping slightly to help evade the fiery projectiles. The Assassin's Dreadwing then spat out several more fireballs at Spyro, but the purple dragon quickly and evasively dodged the dangerous projectiles before spewing out fireballs of his own, each of them blasting the Assassin until it uttered a scream of pain, falling limp in the air for moment before the Dreadwing quickly regained flight.

With his Dreadwing injured and defeated, the Assassin snarled at Spyro, but still wasn't understandable, "You haven't seen the last of me, dragon!" The grotesque Dreadwing he mounted on started flying away from the Artisan Temple and into the distance as Spyro kept an careful eye on him. The Apes that were attacked the temple ceased their attack and retreated, running away into the hills until they finally disappeared.

Sparx then said to Spyro, about what the Assassin said, "I'm just gonna assume he said it was nice talking to you and have a good night...in which case, we thank you."

0000000

"I'm all tingling with terror." Coltrane muttered, trying to get rid of the feeling by shaking his body.

Firestar responded to Coltrane, panting slightly, "Apes will do that to you." He, Coltrane, along with the other dragons in the temple were recovering the sudden temple attack by the Dark Forces. Elder Cosmos was being treated for his wounds by a few of the young dragons after being ambushed by the Apes and most of them were trying to recover the damage to the temple.

"Has anyone seen Cynder and Ami?" Spyro asked aloud, as he walked by his friends along with Sparx.

Flame stood up from the ground and looked at Spyro, echoing, "Cynder and Ami? No. I thought they were with you."

"They haven't come back??" Spyro gasped, sounding a bit worried.

Ignitus perked up slightly when he heard something from Spyro. He slowly approached the purple dragon and questioned gently, "Cynder and Ami are gone?"

Spyro felt a little uneasy about replying to Ignitus, but he know he has to explain sooner or later. He slowly replied, "Well, yes...Cynder, Sparx, and I went out to bring Ami when she left the temple after what happened earlier with Grayson but...she didn't want to return and Cynder went after her to bring her back."

"...I see. Spyro, come with me." Ignitus responded, as he turned and walked into the Pool of Visions room where the other Guardians were waiting. Spyro looked at Flame, and the red dragon only replied with a shrug of his shoulders. The purple dragon then made his way to the Pool of Visions room and walked inside. There, he saw Ignitus already peering into the Pool, looking and sensing for any signs of the two missing dragons.

Spyro asked, walking up to the Fire Guardian, "See anything, Ignitus?"

"No. I can't see where Ami and Cynder have gone." Ignitus replied sadly, his eyes gazing into the Pool, "Just nothingness...It seems that Ami has cut off her connection with the Pool of Visions, and maybe Cynder's as well."

Sparx remarked sarcastically, "Well, _that_ was smart of her."

Igntius announced softly when he saw somethig in the Pool of Visions, "Wait...? Something is coming into focus." He saw the image of Spyro and Sparx standing before a large tree in the pool, "This is strange...I see you in front of a large tree...before a lake of mist and poison."

Spyro gasped excitingly, "A tree?! I've seen that tree i-in my dreams! Only...they usually feel like nightmares."

The other Guardians were surprised how Spyro knows about Ignitus' vision, turning to one another.

Ignitus looked to Spyro with a stern glare, furious, "Spyro, you have been keeping secrets. What is it that you see in these dreams of yours?"

"I'm sorry, Ignitus, I thought they would go away, but they only got worse." Spyro said, almost remorsefully.

Ignitus reassured, "Relax, Spyro. Think."

Spyro closed his eyes and remembered what he kept seeing in his dreams, muttering, "I keep seeing a mountain...covered in shadow...with a face of stone beneath the Celestial Moons...and darkness..."

"The Mountain of Malefor..." Terrador gasped softly.

A sudden, fleeting image of the dragon statue in the Dragon Dojo flashed menacingly in the eyes of those who were in the Pool of Visions room...

"Whoa!" Sparx yelped, after seeing the haunting image, "Was I the only one who thought that was weird?"

Spyro continued, "There was another...it was more like I was seeing in the past and the future at the exact same time...and there was this voice calling himself the Chronicler...that's when I saw the tree."

"Impossible!" Terrador exclaimed, his eyes widened at the word 'Chronicler'.

Sparx spoke out, still looking excited, "Yeah, no kidding!"

Cyril repeated, widening his eyes, "The Chronicler?"

"What??" Sparx said, buzzed in front of the Ice Guardian, "Don't encourage him."

Volteer responded, "I don't believe it either! I have not heard that name in ages."

"Neither has anyone." Ignitus replied, "But there is no way that Spyro could have known...This is remarkable."

"Who is the Chronicler?" Spyro asked curiously.

Ignitus answered, "The Chronicler is an ancient dragon of untold wisdom, though I've only heard stories. In fact, I've had my doubts as to the legitimacy of the tales. But now, I am left to wonder."

"As are we all." Terrador responded, "But if it is true, it is unsettling that the re-emergence of the Chronicler would coincide with an attack on the Temple, not to mention these other visions that Spyro was having."

Ignitus nodded, "Yes, indeed. Tales of the Chronicler are often mixed with tales of _doom_."

Sparx spoke out sarcastically, "Oh goody I was afraid we might have to spend the rest of the night without any more doom!"

000000

"It was only a matter of time, Ignitus. We have all felt it; a great evil is on the horizon." Volteer said grimly, as he and the other Guardians stood outside on the stone, damaged balcony along with Spyro and Sparx, looking up to the Celestial Moons. They were unaware that several other dragons were listening and eavesdropping on the conversation that was about take place.

Ignitus replied to Volteer, "Perhaps, but we must not rush to conclusions. This evening has brought on...many unexplained things."

"We may not have much time, Ignitus." Cyril retorted, "The Celestial Moons are almost at an eclipse, this we know for certain. We must prepare for the worst; The Night of Eternal Darkness draws nigh."

Sparx spoke out nervously, "If 'nigh' means soon, I'm outta here."

Terrador glanced down to the yellow dragonfly and rumbled gently, "Your instincts, though faint of heart, are true. We are no longer safe here. This recent attack is probably the first of many. The army of the Ape King know of Spyro's existence and our location to this realm, he will not rest until they witness his demise along with ours."

"Demise..." Sparx muttered, mimicking Terrador's voice as he chuckled at Spyro, "Hate to be you now!" The yellow dragonfly then turned around only to see the Guardians giving him a cold glare all at once. Sparx asked, "What??"

Ignitus ignored Sparx and said grimly to the other Guardians, "I'm afraid Terrador is right. As uncertain as things are, none of us can remain standing and...witness our worst fears appear before for our eyes."

"Right." Sparx interrupted, "We need a good hiding place."

Ignitus instructed, "Volteer, you and Cyril must go to the lands outside of the Artisan Realm to learn what news you can. Terrador, make haste to the Shattered Vale and warn the inhabitants of that region that darkness is spreading from Malefor. I will stay back with the young ones and search for Cynder and Ami. These are dangerous times for young dragons to be wandering about."

Spyro had looked up to Ignitus with a melancholic glance, then glanced down with worry about the safety of Ami and Cynder.

Ignitus muttered, "May our ancestors look after us and keep us safe in these dark and terrible times."

Spyro asked, "What should I do, Ignitus? I want to help."

"Spyro, you must travel to another path and find the tree from your dream." Ignitus replied, as he glanced down to Spyro grimly, "If the stories of the Chronicler are true...there may be hope for us yet. And I think I know where to begin..."


	4. Chapter 4: Into the Ancient Grove

**Chapter 4: Into the Ancient Grove**

Outside of the Artisan Realm, far from civilization, rain heavily poured from the sky as lightning struck violently through the air. A powerful thunderstorm loomed over the quiet plains of the area, illuminating the hills with flashes of lightning as loud rumbles of thunder boomed the air. Exhausted and wet, Ami scurried through the open, her entire body drenched in cold water before she eventually took refuge inside a cave on a cliff face. She eventually stopped to catch her breath, but she started moving in further into the cave away from the entrance to get dry.

However, a beastial figure lurked atop the high ledges of the cave, and as Ami ventured further, the Wild Hound from the Artisan Realm, Lustclaw, peered over the ledge as she eyed the little Artisan, immediately recognizing her. Suddenly, she leapt from the ledge towards Ami with a hungry snarl.

Ami gasped when she saw Lustclaw leaping for her and quickly bolted away only for the Wild Hound to land on the ground and give chase after her. The little Artisan scurried away from the growling Lustclaw through the cave, gasping for breath, before she found a narrow crevice and quickly leapt inside to escape. As she reached the back of the crevice, Ami turned back to the opening in fear to see Lustclaw standing in front of her refuge and reaching in for the little Artisan as she snarled. Ami winced back with dread when Lustclaw's paw nearly swiped for her; she gasped and blew out flames at the Wild Hound.

Lustclaw yelped with surprise as the burst of flames blew into her face, causing to hound to close her eyes on instinct before it blasted her. The Wild Hound jumped back from the crevice and shook her head to wipe off the burning ashes and sizzling smoke before she jumped back to the opening of the crevice to resume her attack on Ami. Suddenly, to Ami's horror, the crevice Lustclaw was pushing against started to crumble away into rubble as they fell to the side and allowed Lustclaw to jump forward in front of Ami.

As the Wild Hound stood on her hind legs and raised her claws over Ami for the kill, Cynder suddenly leapt from the cave's mouth and struck Lustclaw into her side, tackling the carnivore away from Ami further into the cave as the hound yelped sharply in pain.

Lustclaw painfully skidded across the floor on her side before she rolled over to her feet to glare at Cynder but didn't see anyone. Suddenly, Cynder doved down from the ceiling of the cave with a pump of her wings, tackling the Wild Hound again only for Lustclaw crash painfully into the jagged walls of the cave before falling to the ground, limp and injured.

Cynder flapped her wings slightly before she landed in front of Lustclaw, witnessing the Wild Hound staggering to her feet after recovering from the attack as she growled at the black dragoness, who growling dangerously at the Lustclaw, threatening to attack her again, probably kill the hound if she has to.

Realizing the danger of facing one of the dragons from Artisans, Lustclaw yelped in fear and quickly ran out of the cave and towards the open fields, growling as she disappeared.

Cynder then turned to Ami and called, "Ami, come on, before Lustclaw gets her second wind!"

Nodding, Ami quickly scurried towards the mouth of the cave and exited out of it along with Cynder. They both noticed the storm has passed as they ran through the clearing and eventually reached the mouth of a lushful forest where the two dragons stopped to catch their breaths.

"You alright?" Cynder asked, walking over to the frightened and exhausted Ami.

Ami nodded, panting slightly, "Yes, thank you."

Cynder urged gently, "Ami, you should head back to the temple. It's not safe out here."

"I already told you, Cynder, I'm not going back." Ami retorted, facing the fields of the open realm, "I've made my decision."

Cynder shook her head and responded, "Ami, please, don't do this. What about Spyro, and the others?"

Ami turned to the black dragoness again and was about to reply when she caught sight of something that stood behind Cynder. The little Artisan started stuttering with fear to try and warn her friend. Cynder blinked at Ami's sudden reaction. Following the little Artisan's gaze, the black dragoness turned her head and instantly saw a tall figure behind her before Cynder was struck powerfully on the head by something hard and collasped to the ground, knocked unconscious.

Ami gasped with shock and ran over to Cynder to help, but was suddenly pulled back when someone grabbed her by the tail and lifted her off the ground. The little Artisan struggled ferociously only to see the eyes of the creature that held her, one of its eyes was covered by a patch of black clothing. Several creatures surrounded Cynder's unconscious body, chattering and yelling excitedly as the tall leader, who held Ami, snickered evilly, his visible eye gleamed with anticipation...

* * *

00000

_"The Ancient Grove lies within the forest at the end of the Silver River outside in the open realm; you may have been there before during your travels to reach Artisans. It is a secret place untouched by civilization. The waters there are poisonous as well as the creatures who are fed by it but you shouldn't encounter any real danger. Trust your instincts. I will be waiting for you here at the Artisan Temple when your task is complete."_

Spyro soared towards the forest of mist and gloom alongside Sparx, pumping his wings in a rhythmatic beat before he landed softly onto the moisty ground before the Ancient Grove. The purple dragon looked around, knowing that he hasn't been in the dark forest ever since they left the Dragon Temple to escape the incoming destruction of the dark forces and having narrowly escaping the creatures there.

Sparx flew ahead and hovered beside Spyro, while looking around the Ancient Grove and checking out its appearance. He decided to break the silence spoke out sarcastically. "Oh, wonderful. We got sent to the loveliest of places."

"Come on, Sparx, it's not going that bad." Spyro reassured.

Suddenly, a loud, ghostly moan echoed out from the dark forest before Spyro and Sparx, followed by numerous pairs of menacing eyes appearing in the depths and bushes of the Ancient Grove, eyeing the intruders near the mouth of the forest.

Spyro was unfazed by the sudden haunting sounds, but noticed Sparx had hid behind his head out of fear.

"Oh yeah! Ignore all the evil beasts and visions of apocylpse and darkness, which sounds wonderful!" Sparx commented, hovering back in front of Spyro, "And now we have to go through the creepy jungle just to find some dumb tree?! What's not to love??"

Spyro smirked, "You're syched. Come on." The purple dragon started walking forward into the dark shadowed woods. Sighing, Sparx followed Spyro into the mouth of the Ancient Grove where they begin their search for the tree.

As he and Sparx ventured further, they noticed the sunlight was slowly cut off by the dense leaves of the Grove, almost leaving Spyro in darkness. Some sun rays were seen through the cracks of the trees, giving the two travellers a little light to guide them through the thickest of the dark forest.

Suddenly, a couple of footsteps made themselves knwon as Spyro stopped dead in his tracks and listened carefully. A pair of eyes watched the purple dragon and Sparx before hiding back into the cover of the darkness.

"W-Who's there?!" Spyro demanded, glancing around at the woods that laid around him.

A loud rustle of the trees answered the purple dragon and Sparx, as a pair of darting figures lurked above them. Spyro looked to the trees and only saw darkness. Finally, a rustle from a bush caught Spyro's attention as the purple dragon to the foliage and growled softly. As Spyro was about to pounce, a familiar red figure emerged from the bushes, causing the purple dragon to cease his action as he widened his eyes with shock and disbelief.

"Flame??" Spyro gasped, widening his eyes.

The tough red dragon of Artisans smirked happily to Spyro, "In the scales." He then leapt down from the ledge and stood in front of Spyro.

Spyro questioned, "W-What are you doing here??"

"What do you think?" a familiar cheerful voice said from above, as Spyro looked up to see the little Magic Crafter, Rikki, and the little Dream Weaver, Ruby, glided to the ground below as they landed beside Spyro.

Ruby smiled, "We wanna go with you."

"Rikki? Ruby??" Spyro gawked, looking at the two, little dragons.

Another familiar voice rang out from behind Spyro, "Don't forget about us!"

Spyro turned around only to see the rest of his friends emerged from the path behind him and identified them as he gasped, "Ember, Halvor, Coltrane, Bruce! A-And Grayson!"

"Ah, a happy reunion." Sparx said dully, "Can we get outta here now?"

Spyro asked his friends with suprise, "What are you all doing here?"

"We all wanted to go with you." Flame replied, walking up to Spyro, "Ami and Cynder are our friends too."

Ember added, "And since it was Grayson's fault that Ami left."

"Hey, I said I was sorry." Grayson blurted in, "I definitely am, after Terrador gave me a lecture that made me shiver. And besides nine dragons are better than one."

Spyro thought about it for a moment, but then finally answered, "Well...alright, but we have to stay togther."

"Gotcha." Flame replied, as well as the other dragons that they will stick together to not get lost in the Grove.

Spyro said with smile, "Okay, let's go." As the purple dragon proceeded to walk into through the forest, the other dragons followed Spyro to join him on his journey. While travelling through ledges and paths of the Grove, some of the dragons were looking around, slightly nervous as they continue to hear soft moans of creatures that reside the dark forest.

Bruce remarked, looking around the haunting branches that serve as the Grove's inanimate spectres, "It's just like the time we escaped the Dragon Temple."

"I heard that there's a guardian that lives here and protects the Ancient Grove." Rikki spoke out, looking around.

Flame repeated curiously, "A guardian?"

Rikki nodded, "Yeah, I heard stories that this guardian lies within the deepest part of the Ancient Grove, protecting anything that disturbs the forest."

Spyro responded, looking back to the others, "Well, if this guardian knows where the tree is, then maybe we can ask him or her nicely."

Out of nowhere, a large, root-like hand emerged from the mossy ground in front of Spyro, causing him to gasp with fright and back away as a huge, plant monster pulled itself from the soil and stood before him; its eyes gleamed red with pure hate and evil.

"It's a Growth!" Rikki exclaimed, hiding behind Halvor.

Suddenly, another pair of root-like hands emerged from the ground as more Growths erupted from the soil, glaring at the dragons while each of them stood around them, surrounding them.

On instinct, Spyro and Flame blew out a burst of flames at the Growths, causing the plant monsters to grunt and back away from the range of the fire to avoid getting singed. However, one of the Growths reached from behind its back and pulls out a wooden, vine-like club before slamming it heavily in front of the dragons, causing to them to cease their fire power and back away.

Suddenly, a white, bluish blob of slime soared its way towards Ember thrown by one of the Growths. The pink dragon gasped with fright and tried to avoid it, but Flame quickly pushed her out of the way and allowed himself to be splattered messily by the white-blue slime, freezing him in a patch of frozen slime with only his head and wings visible.

"Flame!" Ember cried, looking over to the red dragon with worry and concern.

Flame tried to get out of the glob of slime, but couldn't as its sticky, frozen substance was clinging on his legs and wings. He moaned with digust, as he struggled to break free, "Yuck! This feels like mushroom slime!"

Rikki and Ruby were desperately trying to dodge the stomping feet of the Growth that was chasing after them. As the plant monster raised its left foot high above Ruby, Rikki quickly tackled the little Dream Weaver before the Growth stomped on the ground where she last stood.

Before the Growths can attack any further, a voice spoke out from above them, "That'll do, Growths."

The plant monsters glanced upwards, then obediently stepped away from Spyro and his friends, but kept them surrounded. During this time, Flame managed to free himself from the frozen goo with Ember's help, but some bits of its substance was still sticking on his wings and bodies.

Two of the Growths stepped to the side, as a lanky, colorful Magic Crafter dragon descended from the air, flapping his wings before landing gracefully on the ground between the two Growths. His eyes gleaming like gems of sapphire as his scales shimmered from dark green to light green and its underbelly had the colors of the setting sun. A black, iron collar was wrapped around his neck which contained a purple gem pulsating with evil energy.

The lanky and colorful Magic Crafter said in a smug and annoying, yet familiar voice, "Well, well, it if isn't the traveling young dragons again. Come back to bother me?"

Spyro observed the Magic Crafter for a moment, then something familiar about the colorful dragon made him remember a brief memory from the past:

_The teenage, colorful Magic Crafter warned the group which consisted of Spyro and his friends, "Go away...unless you want to fight! Hm? Hm?? Hm?!"_

_"You don't know how..." Flame growled, approaching the familiar Magic Crafter until he stood face to face with him, "You've forgotten all the abilites and powers our ancestors ever gave us."_

_Suddenly, the colorful Magic Crafter furiously lunged at Flame, but the red dragon easily sidestepped out of the way and headbutted right into the Magic Crafter's side, painfully knocking the dragon a few feet away from him. The other Magic Crafters hurried went back inside their temple, not wanting to fight and knew they have forgotten how._

_Spyro approached the injured the colorful Magic Crafter and said calmly, "Leave this place. You need the freedom of the world. You can relearn the ways of our ancestors."_

_However, the colorful Magic Crafter shook his head and replied coldly, backing away from Spyro to the entrance to the temple, "The dragon ancestors are a lie...The dark ones takes care of us. We don't want to leave...we don't want your freedom."_

_"The dark ones will get you if you don't leave..." Spyro responded, "You don't have to surrender to them..."_

_The colorful Magic Crafter crowed, before he stepped into the darkness of the temple, "They won't get me...maybe others, but never me!! HAHAHA AHAHAHAAA!!" He cackled maniacally, his voice sending chills down the dragons' spine as he disappeared back into the temple of deception, mirages, and illusions..._

Spyro instantly gasped with shock when he recognized the Magic Crafter from his memories, as the deceiving and selfish creature that he and his friends encountered on their way to Artisans. He glared at him calmly, "Long time no see...Eldrid."

"ELDRID?!" The other dragons chorused with shock, looking at the colorful Magic Crafter dragon.

Sparx asked, glancing at Spyro and Eldrid, "You know this color dude?!"

"You may now referred to me as Master Eldrid, ever since the Dark Master gave me powers beyond _your_ potential." The colorful Magic Crafter retorted firmly to Spyro, glaring at the dragons, "You should join us, but I obviously know you won't. I'm glad I did." He glanced at the Growths that stood faithfully beside him, then slowly turned back to Spyro and the others.

Halvor stepped forward and growled, "Well, you'd be making a terrible mistake if you did. The Dark Master is an evil monster; he doesn't care about those who serve him."

Eldrid sneered, "Come now, Halvor, despite your opinion, there is no easier life than the ones the Dark Master has offered me. The simple life of the powers and knowledge of your ancestors is not the life for any dragon! Power, comfort, riches beyond your wildest dreams! Can't you see? The Dark Master is lord of this world, and you can understand that! You have lived that life before; you never left the Temple of the Black Nets in the first place! It will always be a part of you as well as you are a part of it! Join me, Halvor, and your friends are welcome to join too."

"_I rather die..._" Halvor snarled venomously.

Flame snarled angrily, "We're not gonna join a back-stabbing, twisted wretch like you, Eldrid!"

"Flame, Flame, Flame." Eldrid drawled menacingly, "As you may already know, I have forgotten the ways of your so-called ancestors and I'm not going to fight you. But my new companions will." The Growths around Eldrid growled and roared with anticipation, some of them reached behind their back and pulled out wooden clubs before they started lumbering towards the dragons.

However, the young dragons charged at the Growths all together, slamming themselves into the plant monsters and catching them off guard. Spyro, Ember, and Flame spewed out their jets of flames at the some of the Growths, setting on fire as the monsters struggled to shake off the fire. Coltrane and Rikki's Magic Crafter magic caused the ground below to shot up beneath two Growths and knocked them off balance to allow Halvor, Grayson, and Bruce to tackle them away with a burst of flames. Sparx simply stayed on the sidelines and watched his friends fight the Growths.

One by one, the Growths were defeated, sinking back into the ground completely until a burst of gems emerged from their resting place was. The young dragons absorbed the gems of their ancestors before turning their attention to Eldrid, who was standing calmly before them.

"Take this, you wretch!" Coltrane growled, as he charged towards Eldrid.

Spyro cried out, "Wait, Coltrane!" But it was too late. As Coltrane made a swift but brutal leap, the purple gem on Eldrid's collar glowed an unholy red as Eldrid inhaled deeply and blew out a jet of shadow fire at the charging Magic Crafter. Coltrane was struck by the shadow fire and was painfully launched backwards into the air before crashing brutally into a nearby rock and slumping to the ground.

"Coltrane!" Flame called with worry.

Eldrid chortled evilly, "AHAHAHAHAAAA!! Oh, did I forget to mention that the Dark Master gave me some of his powers? Any presence of darkness and shadow, I can control and use to obey as I please! So as you can see, young Spyro and friends, you could try fighting me, but there would be nowhere in this world where you could avoid me and my Master's influence and domination."

Spyro growled at Eldrid, along with Flame, Ember, Grayson, Bruce, Halvor, Rikki and Ruby, now knowing who they were actually fighting against.

Sparx remarked, "And I thought Cynder was the baddest one."

"Witness my glorious power!!" Eldrid crowed, as the purple gem on his collar started glowing again, this time it was glowing brighter and brighter until it has drawn enough enough. With a flap of his wings, the color Magic Crafter released a massive, dark whirlwind appeared as it streamed its way towards Spyro and the others before enveloping all of them at once. Spyro tried his best to claw at the ground to prevent himself from being swept away by the whirlwind, but a distant cry pierced the air as the purple dragon turned to see Rikki and Ruby lifted from the ground and propelled higher and higher into the air before they disappeared into the distance of the Ancient Grove.

"Rikki!! Ruby!!" Spyro cried out, looking to the direction where his two friends were sent to. Suddenly, a yell caught his attention as the rest of his friends were forcefully lifted from their feet and were propelled higher and higher away from Spyro and Sparx. The purple dragon looked in shock and horror as his saw his friends were being carried off, away from him and towards the other parts of the Grove.

"No!!" Spyro roared, as he tried to his best to keep himself from being pulled into the air. However, a sudden surge of wind swept through him, causing the purple dragon to release his grip on the ground as he and Sparx yelled out and was tossed away by the dark whirlwind. The last thing he heard was the loud cackling of Eldrid's laughter and the harsh gust of wind...

000000

Yelling and partly screaming, Spyro and Sparx were hurled high above the Grove by the whirlwind until they started to descend downwards into the forest. Spyro struggled to land with his wings to slow down his descent, but he crashed painfully against the ground on his chest as he bounced once off the soil then slid across the ground with his legs and tail hanging over his head. Sparx was smacked against a nearby tree and fell to the ground on his back.

Spyro slowly stood back on his feet, shaking his body while feeling a little dazed after the crash. He looked around briefly before Sparx groaned in pain, "That was the second time I got smashed into a tree..."

Spyro resumed looking around, then noticed he and Sparx were alone again. "We lost the others." He muttered, looking around for any signs of Flame, Ember, Rikki, Ruby, Grayson, Halvor, Bruce, or Coltrane, "Not after that whirlwind Eldrid sent at us."

Sparx muttered, "Well, I'm sure they're somewhere else in this creepy place away from that insane color freak."

"We can't stop now. Come on, let's move on." Spyro encouraged, as he resumed walking, "Maybe we might run into some of the others."

Sparx moaned, "Oi, I wanna go back to the temple." Without another word, he followed the purple dragon through the dark, haunting forest of the Grove.

As they were travelling through the murkiest depths of the Ancient Grove, The pair ventured across pits of posionous lakes, avoiding the posion darts shot by the Grove Worms that reside there. They came across a pack of Wild Hounds, whom Spyro easily defeated with all of the abilities that he knows, and vanquished several Growths that stood in his way.

Spyro and Sparx then found themselves near a clearing where a large tree root laid at the edge of it. The purple dragon then asked the yellow dragonfly, as he looked around a little worried, "I think we're really lost."

Sparx, however was seen paying more attention to a flock of butterflies hovering around him and Spyro that were near the clearing. "Hey, have you tried these? Mmmm...they're delish." He then started eating a pair of butterflies as they flew towards him, "Mmmm..."

"Sparx, don't eat those." Spyro scolded gently, as he watched his brother eat the other butterflies, "You'll get sick!"

Sparx held his stomach for a moment before he belched rudely a few times after eating, then replied to Spyro, "Don't be silly...they're perfectly delicious."

Spyro shook his head at Sparx's response and resumed walking further into the clearing along with the yellow dragonfly. Suddenly, they came to a stop when a voice nearby and listened carefully.

"Alright, you scallywags, move out."

Upon hearing the voice, Spyro and Sparx quickly took cover behind a large tree that was protuding out from the ledge beside them. They both witnessed a small group of creatures wandering nearby walking into the clearing they were in. The creature all resemble dogs, but were monkey-like, wearing red and white striped clothing and wielding cutlasses and eyepatches as if they were creatures from the sea.

One of them, the leader was taller, wielding a sharp cutlass in one hand and his right eye was covered by an eyepatch; his long tongue was lolling out of his mouth, but he spoke clearly to his comrades, "Don't scare any creature smaller than a Skurvywing. Captain Skabb wants prized and strong fighters this time, and double the bounty for the one who captures Arrrborick!"

The smaller, dog-like pirates started then chattering and yelling excitedly, jumping up and down with anticipation around their leader.

"This isn't right." Spyro muttered quietly to Sparx, as he watched the pirates from behind the root, "This place was suppose to be uninhabited. We must have taken a wrong path." He turned around and started to walk back to the way he came.

Sparx asked, "All those in favor of walking back?"

Unfortunately, in the middle of Sparx's sentence, Spyro's eyes were halfway open as he suddenly collapsed heavily and loudly onto the ground, as he fainted again. Sparx gasped softy, but the sound of Spyro's body colliding loudly onto the ground attracted the pirates' attention.

The pirate leader also heard the sound and looked over to the tree root Spyro and Sparx were hiding behind. He called, pointing his sword, "Aye! It came from over there. Go see what it be."

The smaller pirates obediently started making their way towards the root where Spyro and Sparx are. Sparx then hovered his way towards Spyro, his face showing concern for not only the dragon's move, but also for a coming reaction in his stomach from feeding on the Grove's butterflies.

"Oh..." Sparx muttered, holding his mouth, as he burped softly, "Oh no!" However, unable to keep himself quiet and hold his gas, Sparx released his grip from around his mouth and unleashed one loud belch that echoed all around the clearing.

"BUURRRRHHHHHPPP!!"

The pirates stopped and looked around, startled by the sudden that echoed all around them before they came closer towards the root to investigate. Sparx covered his mouth again and noticed all of the gas in his stomach was all let out, but then noticed the pirates were coming closer. In order to keep Spyro hidden, the yellow dragonfly had no choice but to hover towards the pirates.

As the pirates looked at the dragonfly, Sparx greeted sheepishly, "Uh...so...how is everyone today in this lovely Grove?"

"Ha ha, the little bug isn't much smaller than a butterfly!" One of the pirates chuckled at the yellow dragonfly, as the pirate leader walked over to investigate.

Sparx instantly fumed and snapped at the pirate, "Hey, who are you calling a bug, you cross-eyed drooling mutt?!" Unfortunately, his fuming reaction just caused the other pirates to jump and growl at the dragonfly with rage at the insult, "Uh-oh..."

"Get him!!" The pirate leader ordered furiously and angrily, after hearing the insult.

The pirates then started to chase after Sparx in anger and fury, as the yellow dragonfly flew around Spyro and lead them away into the forest, screaming in distress, "Mommy!!"

00000000

_Upon entering his next vision, Spyro lifted his head from the ground and shook it before it climbed to his feet. He noticed that he was was in the same area where he first met the Chronicler and regained his fire power. However, there was something different as he stood on all fours, and a cold draft was swept around him, causing Spyro to wrap his body with his wings as he shivered._

_Spyro muttered shakily, "Brrr...It's freezing..." He tried to ignore the cold__ and glided his way towards the same platform where he obtained his fire power from, only this time the pool of light emited a blue aura shining from it and snow drifted around it._

_Spyro peered into the blue light and called out, "Chronicler? Are you here? I've done what you've asked me, but I think I'm lost."_

_As long as the spirits of the ancestors are with you, you will never be lost." The voice of the Chronicler replied, "Calm yourself, Spyro, and cool down your thoughts."_

_Spyro then stepped into the light and allowed the pedestal to channel its energy through his body, giving him a new power._

_The Chronicler said, as Spyro closed his eyes within the pedestal, "Do not let your fire take hold of you. There are other elements you have within you. The power of ice also moves through you, just as the cold winds whip through your wings. Let it...expand!"_

_Spyro slowly hovered off the pedestal then performed an Ice Fury within the confined space, resulting in him being covered with a chilled aura around his body._

_"I knew you would learn it." The Chronicler responded, "Life finds balance, young dragon, and one who can master fire and ice is truly powerful in the changing face of danger."_

_Spyro looked ahead of him and noticed a wall of icy wind vanishing to reveal a passage of floating platforms. The purple dragon then wandered forth and leapt across the platforms to another large platform containing stoned statues of armored Trolls around the edges. As Spyro jumped onto the platofrm, the Stone Trolls jumped to life and charged towards Spyro._

_Spyro took a deep breath and used the new power from one of his lungs, he started blowing out a stream of ice at the Stone Trolls, causing them to wince from the cold before they were frozen solid in ice before shattering into pieces. __A couple more Stone Trolls charged towards the purple dragon, and feeling the moisture around him, Spyro's tail was encased in ice and he quickly whipped it at the Stone Troll as it was frozen sharply in ice, instantly knocking it back and killing the enemies into ice shards._

_"Wow, awesome!" Spyro smiled, before he continued on through his training to master his new ice powers._

_During one of his trials, Spyro came across a wide lake and knew he couldn't make it through to the other side by gliding. He closed his eyes and felt a cold sensation in his lungs as he released an Polar Bomb from his throat and spat it high into the air before it swooped down and made contact with the lake's surface. _

_A mist of frost erupted from the bomb's impact as a small iceberg was created on the water's surface. Realizing how he can get across, Spyro leapt onto the icebrg and spewed out another Polar Bomb to create another ice berg to get across. He repeated the process a few times before he finally reached the other side of the lake; the last iceberg he used slowly sank into the lake's depths, no longer needed as Spyro resumed walking through the platforms that awaited him._

_As Spyro floated to the air, sharp shard of ice appeared out of the chilling air around him and started to surround him in a shield-like matter. With a flap of his wings, Spyro unleashed the ice fury as the ice shards struck and pierced the Stone Trolls that were around him before they were instantly encased in air and shattered into pieces._

_After facing several tests involving his new, ice powers, including his Ice Fury against the last batch of Stone Trolls, Spyro eventually made his way to the same temple where he departed the area from before. He instantly walked inside and made his way to the blue projecting light in the middle._

_Spyro asked, as he looked around before peering into the glowing pedestal, "Okay, now what? What is it you want me to do? I think I want to know what's happening."_

_"You already know what is happening...of the great evil that is awakening." The Chronicler's voice replied, "But there is more that you must understand."_

_The viewing pedestal projected a vision in front of Spyro, giving him the image of the Mountain of Malefor in its full glory_. _Spyro shuddered when he saw the Mountain, "I've seen this place before. It scares me."_

_Chronicler responded, "This is a forsaken place, Spyro. It is called the Mountain of Malefor, the lair to the haunting phantoms and lost spirits of those who had turned to darkness and evil. But to the spirits themselves and the black hearted, it goes by another name."_

_"The Well of Souls!" A dark, growling voice roared out from a monstrous king, an amor-clad, Ape with a glowing green eye wielding a broad staff in his hand as gray hairs was showing on his body. The massive Ape uttered a guttural bellow to his army of Apes, as they gathered around him; the flying form of the Assassin's Dreadwing appeared while hovering above them..._

00000000

After regaining consciousness, Spyro awakened from his sleep only to find himself at the edge of the river, far away from the clearing that he was in before. He weakly brought himself up to his paws and looked around for any signs of Sparx, but didn't see him anywhere.

Spyro called softly, looking around for the yellow dragonfly, "Sparx? Sparx, where are you? Sparx!" He looked to the path before him, and almost instantly, Sparx appeared from behind a tall rock followed closely by the group of pirates who were still chasing after him.

Sparx stopped in front of Spyro and panted, "Spyro, I'm exhausted."

The dog-like pirates then slowed down their pursuit of Sparx and stood directly in front of them. The pirate leader smiled at the sight of Spyro, his companions staring at the purple dragon, "What have we here? A dragon. Arrr, first catch of the day!"

Spyro and Sparx turned to each other, knowing what must be done in order to vanquish the pirates.

"Get him!" The pirate leader ordered, as he and his underlings charged towards Spyro.

Sparx screamed, or yelled in fear as he flew to the distance while Spyro remained where he was. The purple dragon took in a deep breath as ice magic began to draw into his maw, and once he felt the ice gathering around inside, he blew out his Polar Bomb at the charging pirates and it instantly blasted them, encasing them into frozen ice statues. Before long, the ice statues of the pirates started crumbling down into pieces as they were no more than ice shards.

Seeing Spyro kill the pirates with his new ice breath, Sparx flew over to the purple dragon and remarked, "Whoa! How'd you do that? You're getting a little weird."

Spyro responded, "Yeah, it's a long story. I'm a purple dragon, and I'm suppose to learn the elements like ice and fire. There might other elements too. But there's no time for explanations, we have to find the others and the tree." He resumed walking along the path, through the cracked ice pieces of the now dead pirates followed closely by Sparx towards another part of the Grove Underground.


End file.
